In an attempt to create a middle school in West Hollywood, the Laurel School will hold another community meeting at Plummer Park on Saturday from 10 a.m. to noon to inform parents about the addition of 7th and 8th grade classes at the school.

The elementary students at Laurel School will soon be joined by middle school students in the 7th and 8th grades. (photo by Rafael Guerrero)

“Over the past year, we have been hard at work supporting the incredible efforts of LAUSD to bring a public middle school to the West Hollywood community,” Councilmember Abbe Land said. “We are truly grateful for the commitment of school board member Steve Zimmer and look forward to welcoming all interested families to come and hear more about the opportunities at Laurel School and how we can work together as a community to make this the best middle school option it can be.”

The school offered classes through 6th grade, but the effort to add 7th and 8th grade classes began last April and was a relatively fast process, according to Phyllis Scadron, one of the principals of Laurel School.

“We had to walk around the neighborhoods to obtain signatures from parents and go to other schools to let them know we would be adding the classes,” Scadron said.

The school was also required to get a minimum of 60 students enrolled in 5th and 6th grades in order to be able to offer the classes. Scadron said the process took less than two months and the only other thing left to do was spread the word.

“Once the classes were in place, we had to advertise, advertise, and advertise to let people know they were available,” Scadron said.

The incorporation of a middle school option began with the addition of two 7th grade classes at the start of the current school year. The 8th grade classes will be added in the 2011-12 school year when the current class of 40 7th graders move on to the next grade. The 6th grade class has 36 students enrolled while the 5th grade class has 25. These students will each make up the middle school population that will have two classes for each grade.

The addition of the 7th and 8th grade classes at Laurel will give parents in the West Hollywood area the closest LAUSD middle school option for their children.

“Creating a middle school option for the City of West Hollywood solidifies LAUSD’s commitment that every West Hollywood family will have access to outstanding public schools from pre-K to graduation,” LAUSD School Board member Steve Zimmer said.

Land added that giving West Hollywood families a viable middle school option was a long time coming.

“I’ve been advocating for a middle school in West Hollywood for years,” Land said. “We’re thrilled as a council and as a community to have this option at Laurel.”

According to Scadron, the nearest middle schools for West Hollywood families prior to Laurel School’s effort were John Burroughs Middle School, located at 6th Street and McCadden Place or Hubert Howe Bancroft Middle School, located at 929 N. Las Palmas Ave. Some parents chose to send their children to public middle schools located in the San Fernando Valley, magnet or private schools or, in a few cases, families moved out of the West Hollywood area altogether. Scadron added that the middle school option at Laurel will benefit the students because statistics have shown that students who only have to make one transition from middle school to high school perform better.

The meeting on Saturday is another in a series that have been held to inform parents and give them a chance to provide their input on what types of courses they want offered.

Scadron said they already have video journalism and drama courses in place for the 8th grade students to choose as their electives. They will also offer Algebra for 8th grade, and have a physical education and band program planned.